Twelve months ago I was asked to put together a day-long seminar for the Carey School of Preaching back home in New Zealand. Immediately an idea came to mind: merging the Stottian phrase I’ve heard more often than any other in the last decade (working with Langham internationally) with the Stottian sentence I quoted more often than any other in the earlier two decades (working in theological education in New Zealand).
The phrase is ‘double listening’ (to Word and World). The sentence is ‘the secret of preaching is not so much mastering certain techniques, but being mastered by certain convictions.’ Merging this phrase and this sentence creates the two concerns about preaching that never seem too far from my mind:
So I went in search of my good friend from way back – the artist-preacher, Fred Brunell. I explained the concept to him. I needed four sketches/paintings from him, one for each photo on the Instagram feed. We communicated back and forth over the intervening months. Here is his work. We displayed it around the room through each day, without comment, hoping to intrigue people. I preached my exposition from the passage, surrounded by these images – and we even found pathways to Christ at the end!
About Me
the art of unpacking
After a childhood in India, a theological training in the USA and a pastoral ministry in Southland (New Zealand), I spent twenty years in theological education in New Zealand — first at Laidlaw College and then at Carey Baptist College, where I served as principal. In 2009 I began working with Langham Partnership and since 2013 I have been the Programme Director (Langham Preaching). Through it all I've cherished the experience of the 'gracious hand of God upon me' and I've relished the opportunity to 'unpack', or exegete, all that I encounter in my walk through life with Jesus.
Recent Posts
It was my very first training seminar with Langham Preaching. April 2009. We were based at the OMF Guest House in Chiangmai, Thailand. As I wandered the property, I came across this striking quotation on one of the walls: So striking, in fact, that I stopped to take its photo! But is it really true?…
Ten years ago, Ode to Georgetown was my response to being surprised by grief when the only church I had ever pastored closed its doors. Last week brought the news that the theological college which I attended, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS), was to close most of its Chicagoland campus. I have been feeling a…
I am neither painter nor poet, musician nor actor. With Art and Music and Drama classes at school, I was present in body—but absent in spirit and skill. However, as a teacher, there has been the occasional flare of creativity in the crafting of assignments. One of my favourites is one of my first ones.…
John Stott was the first one to help me see the tension in Jesus’ teaching on salt and light. They are pictures for how his disciples are to live in society. Salt pulls them in, keeping them involved. Light holds them back, keeping them distinctive. Being light responds to ‘the danger of worldliness’, while being…
Thank you for honoring your commitment to being in Dunedin last Saturday.
There was a lot to take in and think about during the week and as I sit down to prepare a message there is the challenge of finding different ways of delivering it.
When I first walked into the room there was a series of pictures which I admit I found quite disturbing, but I knew there was a reason that they were there and during the course of the day I found myself quite intrigued with them and I think that was partly because throughout the day you were encouraging us to see deeper (the sadness, emotion etc) and to find God, Jesus & the Holy Spirit in whatever media we use.
Thank you once again for sharing.
Kathy
Hi Kathy
I hope that you felt you were able to explore some new depths and insights with your recent message.
The images were disturbing, weren't they?! As you mention, our preaching needs to explore the pain in our world more fully and do so at a deeper, affective level. Images – like stories – can help us do that better … and it IS possible to fit them within the framework of Biblically-based, Christ-focused exposition.
Blessings
Paul